Shortly after England won a penalty at the ruck and, in their hunt for tries, kicked to the corner but Matt Gallagher stole the ball as Freeman looked to offload. 

Garbisi had an opportunity to take the lead with 22 minutes played, but his kick drifted wide and England responded by winning a penalty of their own. They kicked to the corner, but Italy held Maro Itoje up over the line. As the Italians cleared, England countered with an outside-the-boot kick from Daly that Freeman regathered, before he stepped inside for his fourth try of the tournament. Fin Smith converted to give England a seven point lead. 

Italy replied almost immediately as Capuozzo burst through the midfield and found Vintcent on his shoulder. Vintcent then dummied and used his pace to cross for Italy’s second try, with Garbisi converting to draw the Azzurri level. 

With 35 minutes played, an Alex Mitchell box-kick was tapped into the arms of Ollie Chessum and after a few phases England won a penalty at the breakdown. Mitchell tapped quickly to inject a bit of pace, before a succession of crisp passes saw Sleightholme score in the corner and Fin Smith converted from wide. 

As half-time approached, Garbisi cut the deficit with a penalty to make it 21-17 and despite threatening to score again, England defended the Italian maul to end the half in front.